GRIP Fest celebrates female musicians and artists

Shyanne Belzer

Staff Writer

sbelzer@minotdailynews.com

GRIP Fest is aimed at honoring and celebrating all female musicians and artists of all ages.
Submitted Photo

With Pangea House’s 2018 celebration of female musicians and artists being the tenth anniversary, the creators decided to make it special and make it larger, creating a festival out of it to give more opportunities and more slots of entertainment.

Taking place today and Saturday at 62 Doors Art Gallery and Studio, the fest will hold a large variety of events aimed to be fun for the whole family, with the goal of promoting females and their skills.

“The festival is meant to be a regional motivator and empowerment tool in encouraging females, and those who identify as female or gender non-conforming, to get involved in our local music/art scene,” said Jazmine Schultz, who is a founding member of Pangea House.

Each day will offer a lot to do and see, with today’s events beginning at 6 p.m. with a workshop done by local artist and book illustrator Roxi Mathis. It will focus on illustrations and she will be showing and selling her books. At 7 p.m., 62 Doors Art Gallery will be opening their latest show for guests to peruse and enjoy. At 8 p.m., the music begins. First will be a special performance from Teresea Hargrove’s class from Velva, who will be performing music by female composers. Then from 8:30 p.m. to the end of the night, local musicians from all over the state will perform.

Feb. 10 will be filled with a large variety of different workshops. At 1 p.m., Cassie Staufer will be doing a homemade paper making workshop, at 2 p.m., Jazmine Schultz will be doing a homemade magazine workshop, and then at 3 p.m., Diyaa Kamalanathan will do a workshop promoting STEAM by incorporating computer coding and art together. Alongside these workshops, 62 Doors and Minot Area Street Art will have a variety of stations from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for all to enjoy. Then the music begins again with more budding local and state artists.

All the shows are geared toward all ages, but they don’t sensor their artists.

“To help make the event kid friendly, we’ve booked bands with swears for later Friday evening. Saturday’s events should be completely kid friendly,” Schultz said.

Pangea House greatly encourages families to bring everyone from babies to grandparents. For those concerned with noise, louder bands, like those with swears, are reserved for later in the evening, but they will be offering ear plugs to those interested.

The event is free, but they have a suggested donation of $5 to help events continue and to cover costs. All are welcome.

Pangea House has been around for 10 years and they work hard to book shows for all ages in the community. They keep them cheaper, at $5, so people can afford them more easily. The have strict rules on no alcohol, no drugs, to keep it a family friendly place where everyone can feel welcome.

“We feel that it is important to have a place to play/perform prior to turning 21 and have tried very hard over the years to grow our music scene by filling this niche,” Schultz said.

They will book bands from all over the country and the world who share a similar goal to Pangea House. They also organizers of the Why Not? Minot Fest, which is a large event that occurs in August, bringing out around 80 performers for the family friendly, all ages event.

For more on not only Pangea House but GRIP Fest, visit their Facebook page.